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THE MAKING OF GEORGIA 



OGLETHORPE 




Two Addresses delivered by 

HON, WALTER GLASCO CHARLTON 

of Savannah, Georgia 




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Book ^-^ 




aKN\' OGLETHORPE. 



THE 
M A K I N G OF GEORGIA 



OGLETHORPE 



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51®]'©!®) 



Two Addresses by 

Hon. Walter Gi.asco Charlton 

of Savamiah, Georgia 



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THE 
MAKING OF GEORGIA 



Ladies of the Georgia Society of the Colonial Dames of 
America: Ladies and Gentlemen— "There is hardly any 
century in history," wrote Bolingbroke, "which began by 
opening so great a scene as the century in which we live." 
Had he lived to its close he might have added, nor any 
ended with such tremendous consequences to mankind. 
The vast empire which Louis XIV had toiled so long to 
construct was shattered by Marlborough at Blenheim in 
1704, and the Revolution of the French, consummated in 
1799, when Napoleon became the first consul, fixed for- 
ever in the popular mind the power and individuality of 
the people. It was the age of Frederick the Great, of 
Charles of Sweden, of Peter of Russia. It heard the death 
knell of the republic of Venice, and it presided over the 
partition of Poland; and on every hill-top in America it 
saw the beacon fires of freedom and democracy blaze in 
triumph through the throbbing night. It was the age of 
Dryden and of Pope; of Johnson and Goldsmith; of Addi- 
son and Steele; of Fielding and Defoe; of Burke and Pitt 
and Sheridan, and Fox and Wilkes. Until it neared its end, 
it was the Englishman's century, and wherever civiliza- 
tion had set its mark his speech was heard and his arms 
respected. It was pre-eminently a century of action. There 
was never a time when politics were more bitter and scur- 
rilous, and there was never a time when literature was 
more polished and urbane. Gay found it acceptable to his 

(1) 



The MaMmj of Geonjia 



audiences to caricature, in the "Beggar's Opera," the lead- 
ers of his day as highwaymen, whilst Pope tickled the deli- 
cate sensibilities of his readers with a rhapsody on a lock 
of Belinda's raven tresses. This was the century in which 
Georgia was born. In that day colonization was a familiar 
expedient to the great powers of Europe. There had been 
colonies military and colonies mercantile; colonies preda- 
tory and colonies penal; colonies for gain, for power, for 
fame — but it was reserved for the reign of George the Sec- 
ond to formulate the grandest theory of a colony which 
had ever stirred the human heart or enthused the human 
soul — a colony for charity. Whence did the idea come? 
It may be from the tortured conscience of some Grub 
street pamphleteer, who himself had known the grinding 
agony of English poverty. It may be that it sprang from 
the active brain of some polished wit sitting at the cozy 
fireside of a London club and speculating on the ways and 
foibles and distresses of man. Or still again, it may be 
that across the sunny life which had come to the English 
people with the glory of their arms, fell the dark shadow 
of that German emigration, toiling its slow way through 
Europe, its ranks full of the homeless and the poor, sanc- 
tified by piety and character and courage. It may be this 
that caused the people of England, moved to a profound 
pity for those wandering Salzburgers, to turn toward the 
sufferers in their own midst whose misfortunes the law 
had made crimes and who in noisome prisons and still 
fouler companionship were wasting their manhood and 
womanhood and childhood in the agony of a perpetual 
horror. We know it was James Edward Oglethorpe who, 
in 1729, moved in the parliament a resolution of inquiry 
into the condition of prisons with a view to the relief of 
those who were imprisoned for debt. By whomsoever the 
note was struck it sent a thrill throughout the length and 
breadth of England. Politician and poet; merchant and 
peer; king and peasant — it sounded in all ears and quick- 



The Making of Georgia. 3 

ened all hearts. Whilst the political reason assigned was 
the protection of the province of Carolina, the fact re- 
mains that the immediate and noble object of the coloniza- 
tion of Georgia is to be found in the words of the charter, 
where it recites that "His majesty, having taken into con- 
sideration the miserable circumstances of many of his own 
poor subjects, ready to perish for want, as likewise the 
distress of many poor foreigners who would take refuge 
here from the persecution * * * hath, out of his fath- 
erly compassion towards his subjects, been graciously 
pleased to grant a charter for incorporating a number of 
gentlemen by the name of 'The Trustees for establishing 
a colony of Georgia in America.' " Surely, much will be 
forgiven the Georges because of the noble language of that 
charter. Nor was the nobility of the sentiment which 
moved the trustees to accept the trust less apparent. At 
their instance it was declared that no trustee should ever 
receive fee or perquisite or reward, however arduous his 
labors might be. They were to hold the lands "in trust 
for the poor"; and it was commanded that throughout the 
extent of Georgia there should always be "liberty of con- 
science to all who shall settle there." On what would now 
be August 2, 1732, the Lord Viscount Percival (afterward 
Earl Egmont), qualified as president of the board of trus- 
tees — each trustee as he qualified making a handsome do- 
nation to the cause — and on November 28 of that year, the 
good ship Anne, 200 tons burthen, whereof John Thomas 
was master, being 130 persons, sailed from the port of 
Gravesend, a modern Argo, bearing in her fragile sides, 
across the tempestuous seas, the Golden Fleece of Geor- 
gia's hopes and Georgia's future. Arriving off the bar of 
Charleston, on the 24th of January, 1733, the commis- 
sioner and his followers were received with the charac- 
teristic hospitality of that historic town, and the King's 
pilot having subsequently carried the Anne into Port 
Royal, Oglethorpe departed for what is now Georgia to 



The Mal-'utf/ of (lco)-(/ia 



select a site for his first settlement, and to treat with the 
Indians in possession — leaving the colonists to refresh 
themselves in the neighborhood. Arriving in Georgia, and 
securing the services of Mary Musgrove as interpreter, 
Oglethorpe visited the town of the Yaraacraws, where, 
overcoming the objections of the Indians, he obtained their 
consent to the settling of Savannah. It was at this inter- 
view that he first met Tomochichi, the Mico of the tribe, 
and there began a friendship founded upon mutual respect 
and esteem which was to continue with increasing tender- 
ness until the old warrior, full of years, was laid to rest 
in Georgia soil. As Tomochichi was to be the help and 
stay of the colony, so in the time to come Mary Musgrove 
was destined, under the title of "Queen of Georgia," to 
bring woes innumerable upon the people of Savannah. The 
Sunday after Oglethorpe's return was made a day of 
thanksgiving, and many of the gentlemen of the neighbor- 
hood, with their families, resorted to the encampment. The 
sermon was preached by Rev. Lewis Jones, of Beaufort — 
the Rev. Mr. Herbert, chaplain to the colonists, filling his 
pulpit. After being thus edified, the colonists "were re- 
galed with four fat hogs, eight turkeys, besides fowls, 
English beef, and other provisions, a hogshead of punch, 
a hogshead of beer, and a large quantity of wine." It is 
gratifying to learn from the old chronicle that "all was 
disposed in so regular a manner that no person was drunk 
nor any disorder happened." 

Embarking on the 10th of February in a schooner of 
seventy tons and five periaugers, and encountering on the 
way storm and venison, they landed in the afternoon of the 
12th at what is now Savannah, and as the red rays of the 
setting sun shone upon their eager faces and God's peace 
fell upon their tried and weary souls, to the music of her 
rustling pines and the murmuring of her noble streams. 
Georgia was started upon her glorious career. 



TJw Making of Georgia 



Here was a scene lacking none of the elements of his- 
toric dignity, and the imagination declines to forego the 
opportunity to dwell upon it for a moment. The first sug- 
gestions of spring were in the air — that light, caressing 
air we know so well, which tempts nature to look abroad 
in expectancy of the time, so near at hand, when tree and 
flower will fill all the world with the glory of their res- 
urrection. The centuries had looked down upon the stately 
pines which filled the view at every hand, and here at last 
was one whose mission was to carve through their ancient 
ranks a path for man's development. How great must have 
been his thoughts! A soldier of recognized distinction; a 
courtier skilled in all the graces of polite society; at ease 
in tent and ball room ; the companion of the witty and the 
learned; taking hardships as a gentleman might, not from 
necessity, but from choice and duty — as he stood on the 
banks of the Savannah and sent his keen glance into the 
west, did he see the light-hearted warrior standing at Eu- 
gene's side and holding at bay with his Christian following 
the ancient enemy of the Christian world, until the Danube 
ran red with Turkish blood? Did he see the palaces he 
had left, and hear the merry laugh of comfort and the keen 
words of wit? Or from the midst of these children of want 
and children of nature which surrounded him, did his 
fancy soar over forest and stream and mountain until at 
length it caught the sparkle of the far Pacific — the limit 
of the State he had come to build? Or did it farther go in 
time and from prophetic heights see oak and pine pass like 
a thought and in their stead the stately structures of a 
busy mart, along whose ways in constant stream poured 
the rich treasures of the field and mine and forest, and on 
whose placid waters moved the craft of all the powers of 
earth? When he lay down to rest that night beneath the 
shelter of the solemn pines, he must have known that men 
would hold that day in everlasting memory. 



The MakiiKj of (U'orijia 



The whole story of the colonization of Georgia reads 
like a special providence of God. To the most friendless 
of all people — the forgotten debtors of England — had sud- 
denly come a veritable sunburst of benevolence. They had 
reached America in safety, and now in their new home the 
Indian — against whose depredations upon the colony of 
Carolina they were expected to be the guard — received 
them with a friendship and generosity unparalleled in the 
history of the two races. We cannot too strongly insist 
upon the gratitude we owe to Tomochichi for the part he 
played in this and every other crisis of the colony. After 
that of Oglethorpe, his is easily the noblest figure in our 
early history. He was a broad, liberal-minded gentleman; 
true to every promise, brave in every emergency, and with 
a dignity of speech and bearing and look which made him 
fit to be the historic companion of the founder. His sense 
of right and duty had made him an exile from his people, 
and yet, even as Mico of the Yamacraws, who had cast their 
fortunes with him, he commanded the respect of the tribe 
which had banished him. At the conference held between 
Oglethorpe and the chiefs of the Lower Creek Indians for 
the purpose of settling by treaty the boundaries of the 
colony, the king of the Oconas, which had been Tomochi- 
chi's tribe, said of him that he was a good man and had 
been a great warrior, and that it was for his wisdom and 
courage that the banished men had chosen him to be their 
king. It was his influence which brought about the treaty, 
and his constant, cheerful courage never wavered in the 
most perilous moments. There is but scant material for 
romance in the early days of the colony. The outlook was 
eminently practical and embraced such prosaic occupation 
as the building of houses, the tilling of the soil and the 
construction of the machinery of government. The town 
was divided into wards, in each ward four tythings, and 
in each tything ten houses. A freeholder of a tything had 
his town lot 60x90 feet, a garden lot of five acres, and a 



The MuJciiiff of Georgia 



farm lot of forty-four acres and a fraction. The land de- 
scended in what was known to the common law as tail- 
male, that is, in default of male issue it reverted to the 
trustees. Beyond the town four villages made a ward, 
which depended upon a ward in the town. The squares, 
which we are accustomed to regard as pleasure grounds, 
were designed as places of refuge in time of war for the 
families and cattle of the inhabitants of these villages, in 
which they were at liberty to encamp — the villagers resort- 
ing to the square upon which their ward depended. They 
were further designed for public structures — the market 
is now in Ellis square; and within the memory of many 
of us the engine houses of the fire companies — negro as 
well as white — were located in the squares. It is interest- 
ing to note that it was upon the historic fact of their orig- 
inal use that the Supreme Court based its decision permit- 
ting the street car line to be built through them. 

The political system was simplicity itself. Over all 
were the trustees, with Oglethorpe as their commissioner. 
There were three bailiffs, having judicial powers, a re 
corder and a registrar. A term court, with civil and crim- 
inal jurisdiction, and grand and petit juries, presided over 
by the bailiffs, sat every six weeks. Each ward had its 
constable under whom were four tything men, and there 
was a public storekeeper. As the wards and tythings bore, 
and still bear, the names of the trustees, so the streets 
were for the most part named for the generous Carolin- 
ians who gave freely of provisions and manual assistance 
in the infancy of the colony. I find in a semi-official docu- 
ment the town referred to in a rather undignified manner 
as "New Windsor, alias Savannah." This latter designa- 
tion, in all probability, was taken from the English name 
of the river, which in turn was, conjecturally, from Savan- 
nah Town, a trading post established in 1716, on the Caro- 
lina shore, about four miles north of Hamburg, and which 



8 The Malcing of Georgia 

took its name directly from the tribe of Sewannos Indians. 
There was nothing in the thicl^ forest of oalvs and pines 
which covered the site of Savannah to suggest the natural 
appearance with which the name is usually associated. 
From the brow of the bluff to Bay street, an open space 
was reserved, known as the Strand, which still exists. 
Through this it was designed to cut ways leading to the 
foot of the bluff, up to which the river washed, in order 
to avoid the labor of hoisting goods by the crane which 
did service about the foot of Bull street. To the south- 
east of what we know as Irish Green was the trus- 
tee's garden, in which all manner of experiments were 
made in the cultivation of fruits and valuable plants, 
including coffee and tea. The idea seems to have pre- 
vailed that anything might grow in Georgia. But the 
chief hope was in the silk culture. For the nourish- 
ment of the silk worms numbers of mulberry trees were 
grown. It is pathetic to note with what persistency the 
trustees and colonists clung to the idea that Georgia would 
finally rival Italy and China in this commodity. Thousands 
of pounds, and years of labor were expended upon this ex- 
periment, and it was finally abandoned only when the Revo- 
lution took away all hope of a market. In Johnson square, 
on the spot now occupied by the Greene monument, stood 
the first town clock — a sun dial; and somewhere in the 
same square was a wooden hut twenty by forty feet, 
wherein were held both the sessions of court and divine 
service. Later the church edifice was erected on the Christ 
Church lot. The habitation of Oglethorpe was a tent, 
which was spread beneath four pine trees a little to the 
east of Bull street on Bay. 

From time to time slight accessions were made to the 
colony — among them certain Italians skilled in the silk 
culture. They came in the ship James, which was the 
first vessel from England to ascend the Savannah river. 



The Makhi'j of Georgia 



In the meanwhile the work of construction was pressed 
forward. A battery of cannon and a magazine were built; 
Fort Argyle, on the Great Ogeechee, and defensive struc- 
tures on Skidaway, at Thunderbolt, and at Wormsloe, 
erected; High-Gate, Hampstead, Abercorn and Joseph's 
Town laid out, and a lighthouse to be ninety feet high on 
Tybee Island projected. 

Returning from Charleston, whither he had gone to 
express his acknowledgments for the kindnesses shown 
the colony, on May 18, 1733, Oglethorpe met with the chiefs 
of the Lower Creek Indians, brought together by Tomo- 
chichi, and with them, on the 21st, entered into a treaty 
by which the trustees were granted all lands between the 
Savannah and the Alatamaha, from the ocean to the head 
of tidewater, with the islands from Tybee to St. Simons, 
inclusive, save Ossabaw, Sapelo and St. Catherine's. In 
one way and another, by treaties and by charter, Georgia 
became a vast empire in extent — her possessions extend- 
ing along the Savannah and Alatamaha to their headwaters, 
thence due west to the South Sea — a claim which was so 
far good as to cover after the Revolution the territory of 
Alabama and Mississippi. By this time the colony had 
begun to attract the attention of the outside world. To- 
ward the end of 1733 came about forty Hebrews, over the 
protest of the trustees — but proving to be orderly and use- 
ful citizens, Oglethorpe permitted them to remain. In the 
spring of 1734 occurred an incident of historic moment. 
From 1729 to 1732 had been going on in Europe a move- 
ment which deeply interested the people of England. A 
frenzy of religious persecution directed against the Luther- 
ans had taken possession of the ecclesiastical powers of 
Salzburg. It raged with especial fury in the beautiful 
valley of Salsa, until at length overborne by the helpless- 
ness of their situation the inhabitants of that unhappy spot 
determined to forsake the homes of their fathers and seek 



10 The MakitKj of Geonjla 

peace and freedom in other lands. To the number of 
twenty-five or thirty thousand they marched through Eu- 
rope on their way to Holland and England. These were no 
imprisoned debtors freed by the impulsive benevolence of 
a remorseful people. They were martyrs who preferred 
death or exile to apostacy. With a gentleness and piety 
which affected those to whom they came — the convictions 
upon which they acted were as unbending as the oak. 
Misfortune and oppression had not crushed their spirits, 
and they heard through the night of their sorrow the voice 
of God leading them onward as He had in the olden time 
led the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt into the 
Land of Promise. Late in 1733, seventy-eight of these peo- 
ple, under invitation from the trustees, set out from Berch- 
tolsgaden for Rotterdam, and being there joined by the 
Rev. John Martin Bolzius and Rev. Israel Christian Gronau 
sailed for Dover, where the oath of allegiance to the British 
crown was administered to them by the trustees. On 
December 28 they sailed in the ship Purisburg, stopping 
at Charleston, where they were met by Oglethorpe. Re- 
suming their journey, on the 10th of March, 1734, after a 
stormy passage, they entered the Savannah river, and on 
the 17th pitched their tents at the chosen site which they 
gratefully called Ebenezer. With characteristic industry 
they at once set to work to build their homes. In those 
days the great consideration was, of necessity, access to 
navigable streams. Otherwise it would be difficult to con- 
jecture why in a belt of country which had then, as now, 
some of the healthiest localities in Georgia, the site of 
Ebenezer should have been selected as a habitation for 
foreigners. The soil was barren, the surrounding country 
full of swamps — and, despite the earnest efforts of the 
Salzburgers, Ebenezer was doomed from the first. The 
town was far advanced when it was determined to change 
the site. Over the remonstrances of Oglethorpe, the entire 
settlement forsook their new home and began anew the 



The Making of Georgia 11 

work of colonization at Red Bluff, on the Savannah, which 
they renamed New Ebenezer. From time to time they 
received accessions from Europe and Pennsylvania and 
established a reputation for industry and honesty which 
clings to their descendants to this day. Savannah had 
boasted that it had no lawyers, but Ebenezer could claim 
that it had neither lawyers, courts or rum. All of their 
differences were referred to their pastors and by them, 
aided by the elders, reconciled. It was amongst these 
people that the silk culture received its highest develop- 
ment. They succeeded in producing an article which was 
recognized by experts in England as equal to the best 
Piedmontese silk. The output increased year by year, until 
it was stopped for all time by the Revolution. There, too, 
the first cotton was raised. 

In the summer of 1733, Oglethorpe sailed for England 
with Tomochichi and other Indians, and we find but scant 
record of the colony until his return. However, whilst 
he was abroad an event of the first import to the colony 
took place in Great Britain. There gathered at Inverness, 
in Scotland, a baud of Highlanders, numbering about one 
hundred and eighty, whose destination was Georgia. Em- 
barking on October 20, 1735, in the Prince of Wales, and 
encountering favoring winds, they reached Georgia early 
in January, and at once proceeded to the spot on which 
Darien stands. This was the settlement of New Inverness. 
They came with their plaids and shields and claymores. 
Among them, says the Chronicle, were some who were un- 
accustomed to work, and these were attended by their 
servants. It would seem that the extremes of the world 
had met — the Highlander and the Indian. But no people 
ever came to Georgia who took so quickly to the conditions 
under which they were to live or remained more loyal to 
her interests. By this time our friends across the river 
had begun to interest themselves in Georgia affairs. Their 



12 The Making of Georgia 

traders were giving trouble by undertaking to deal with 
the Indians without a Georgia license, and they were con- 
stantly smuggling rum into the colony — a commodity which 
with slavery had been inhibited. They also began to assert 
that the river belonged to Carolina. The colonists resent- 
ing this invasion of their territory — actual and by claim — 
the pleasant relations formerly existing became strained. 
So, upon the arrival of the Highlanders, it was suggested 
to them by citizens of Carolina that they courted death in 
the attempt to settle New Inverness; that the Spaniards, 
who were near at hand, would shoot them down from the 
houses in their fort. "Why, then," said the Highlanders, 
"we will beat them out of their fort and so have houses 
ready built to live in." They were a sturdy, brave and 
self-reliant race — holding one of the outposts of the colony 
with unflinching courage. None of the race elements which 
went to make up Georgia have in name and characteristics 
preserved so thoroughly their identity — and are yet so 
thoroughly Georgian — as the Scot and the Salzburger. 

After many efforts and much buffeting by contrary 
winds, the Symond and the London Merchant sailed from 
England for Georgia, on December 21, 1735, having on 
board English and foreigners, two hundred and twenty- 
seven persons. These were the colonists for Frederica. 
With them sailed Oglethorpe and his secretary of Indian 
affairs, Charles Wesley, John Wesley, and a number of 
gentlemen, friends of Oglethorpe, with their servants. For 
Charles Wesley, fresh from the academic shades of Ox- 
ford, the rough life of Georgia was scarcely fitted. Of a 
sweet and gentle nature, trusting and unsuspicious, it was 
almost inevitable that he should come to be misunderstood. 
Serious differences arose between him and his chief at 
Frederica, so thoroughly healed at length, it is pleasant 
to note, that they parted at last with affection. His brother 
was made of sterner stuff. He was one of the great men 



The Making of Georgia 13 

of his day, strong of will and tenacious of purpose. A cen- 
tury after his death the historian Green said of him that 
he had "'an indefatigable industry; a cool judgment, a com- 
mand over others; a faculty of organization, a singular 
union of patience and moderation, with an imperious ambi- 
tion which marked him as a ruler of men." 

The struggle between him and the people of Savannah 
was of long duration. Upon his part it was not unmarked 
by indiscretion — never by lack of courage or principle; 
upon their part, it at last took the form of persecution — and 
judging that his usefulness was gone, he shook the dust of 
Georgia from his feet and went upon his way, to become 
in time the head of one of the greatest religious move- 
ments of the ages. 

The trip of the Symond and London Merchant was un- 
eventful. They had prayers twice a day, "and the Dissent- 
ers, particularly the Germans, sung psalms, and served 
God in their own way." The ships were kept wondrously 
clean, and constables were appointed to prevent disorder. 
The men were exercised with small arms and the women 
were furnished with knitting needles, thread and worsted, 
and employed their leisure time in making stockings and 
caps for their families or in mending their clothes and 
linen. These, I believe are lost arts. On February 16, 1736, 
they made Tybee. The design had been to transport the 
colonists to Frederica by the ships, but the captains not 
having that sublime confidence in the Jekyl bar now en- 
joyed, and sometimes expressed by our neighbors in 
Brunswick, declined to make the venture. They were 
thereupon carried to St. Simons in periaugers, the precau- 
tion being taken to put the liquor in the fastest boat that 
the others might have an incentive to keep in company 
with it. Passing through the beautiful inland route with 
its dreamy isles and overhanging oaks and infinite stretch 



14 The Mal'uuj of (Scorgia 

of golden marsh, they reached St. Simon's and at once be- 
gan to construct and fortify Frederica. The failure of the 
ships to cross the Jekyl bar confronted the colonists with 
a grave peril. They were on the picket line. Only a short 
distance to the south flowed the St. John's, the boundary 
of the Spanish domain, and near to that was the fortified 
town of St. Augustine. Oglethorpe frankly explained to 
them the peril of their situation — one hundred and thirty 
miles from Savannah, which was accessible only by open 
boats. With great determination they elected to stay and 
build their town. Whilst the work of construction pro- 
gressed, Oglethorpe, with Tomochichi and other Indians, 
made frequent reconnoisances to the south, extending as 
far as the St. John's. In the midst of preparations for de- 
fense came the information that Spain had renewed her 
claim to all territory south of the Savannah river. Uncer- 
tain of the friendship of Carolina and persuaded by the 
inadequacy of his own forces to meet and overcome the 
resources of Spain, Oglethorpe, toward the close of 1736, 
sailed for England to lay before the King the gravity of 
the situation and the necessity for disciplined soldiers if 
the colony was to be held. 

In the meanwhile. Savannah was in trouble, and the 
situation may be described without reference to chronology. 
There had been much sacrifice and nobility in the history of 
the colony. If the first settlers came from the debtors' pris- 
ons, the Purisburg, the Prince of Wales, the Symond and 
the London Merchant had brought as strong and independ- 
ent contingents as ever landed in any colony, and the 
emergencies which had arisen had been met, under the 
wise direction of Oglethorpe, with firmness and success. 

But to many hearts had come disappointment, and the 
discontent which sprang from the ruins of false and un- 
reasoning hopes began to find voice. One of those very 



The Mal-'uifj of Geonjia 15 

sanguine spirits, who, with the best intentions, go through 
life making trouble for other people, had written of Geor- 
gia: "I think it is the pleasantest climate in the world; 
for it is neither too w^arm in summer, nor too cold in the 
winter. They have certainly the finest water in the world, 
and the land is extraordinarily good; this may certainly 
be called the land of Canaan." I have no particular knowl- 
edge of the land of Canaan, and I am not disposed to take 
issue with the statement if applied to Savannah at the 
present time, but I am not without sympathy with the col- 
onists who, setting out to find this paradise, found heat 
and cold and storms and malaria, and mosquitoes and pro- 
hibition. Doubtless they considered that the world owed 
them some reparation for the injustices it had heaped upon 
them, but they never seemed to have realized that then 
as now the kindly soil of Georgia gives of its treasures 
to the industrious and takes but scant account of the 
philosopher who sits in the sun with his back against a 
rugged pine, speculating on the curse of labor. Oglethorpe 
had inhibited negro slavery as repugnant to all economic 
theories connected with a pioneer colony, and being a bold 
man, he had likewise prohibited rum. They clamored for 
slaves and they clamored for rum. They seemed somehow 
to have evolved the conclusion that it was the duty of the 
government to furnish them with both. These discontents 
among the colonists were the most grasping pensioners 
Georgia has ever known. All around them were men in 
reasonable prosperity, the result of devoted toil — but these 
examples had no effect upon their leisurely methods. 
Think of a man complaining of the want of luxuries with 
Thunderbolt and the Wilmington river within four miles 
of him, and the Savannah, abounding in succulent cat, flow- 
ing at his very feet. Added to his own innate cussedness, 
the discontented colonists had some real grievances. The 
chief bailiff and store keeper was a man of arbitrary meth- 
ods and gave of justice and provisions by rules which grat- 



16 The Making of Geonjia 

ified his whims rather than met the moral requirements of 
the situation. The trouble at last, however, came from 
those whose absence, as the Journal suggested, the colony 
would be the better for. But if they would not work, they 
talked with a breadth and picturesqueness which excite 
the admiration. They discoursed of their neighbors and 
of their town. They laughed at the Brunswick bar, and 
cast aspersions upon the fortifications at Frederica. Dear 
old Dr. Bolzius had somewhere written that the Salzburgers 
were content and the country fertile, in illustration of 
which he grew eloquent over a plateful of fox-grapes and 
bullaces which was before him at the moment. This drew 
down the wrath of the pine-stump politician on Ebenezer, 
and he bitterly denied that anybody was or could be con- 
tented, and he gloated with inexpressible glee over the 
swamps which surrounded that devoted spot. The Salz- 
burger contented himself with observing that Savannah 
was suffering with a complicated complaint, into which 
largely entered the disturbing element of rum. Augusta, 
having, with the boastfulness of extreme youth, remarked 
that it was destined to become a great trade center, since 
a given number of horses passed that post each year — the 
citizen on the coast hastened to suggest that the total was 
reached by counting the same animals going and return- 
ing, and that if she would make her garrison of twelve men 
revolve in a circle all day and count each man every time 
he passed a given point, she would likewise have a large 
population. They embraced in the scope of their vitupera- 
tion the river, the filature, the court house and Hutchinson 
Island. They characterized Tomochichi as a vagrant, and 
because John Wesley asked them concerning their sins, 
they maintained that a separate nightly session was found 
at his house, "which made a communion of saints, and 
were distinguished by the name of Faithful; but which 
were indeed such members as neither contributed to the 
credit of religion nor society," and "that they observed 



The Maldng of Oeorgia 17 

particular forms of worship and duties, such as publick 
confession, penance, absolution, etc.," and that "many be- 
lieved that an avenue was herein opening to Popery." They 
fairly danced around Bailiff Causton like Indians about a 
prisoner at the stake — and enjoyed the pastime all the 
more because of the vulnerability of the victim. If there 
was any offense they did not ascribe to him, it was because 
it was then unknown to the English tongue. Life is too 
short to recite all of the iniquities they connected with the 
administration of this official, from the issuance of sola 
bills to the abstraction of public stores. One of his doings, 
however, stands out in bold relief. Mr. Watson having, 
as it was alleged, so filled one Skee with rum that he died, 
was put on trial. The jury, being glared at by the bailiff, 
with delightful inconsequence returned a verdict of "using 
unguarded expressions." This remarkable return the 
bailiff construed to mean lunacy, but failing to make the 
proper discrimination between the jury and the defendant, 
put the latter in jail, and, later, bailed him out — which last 
act brought about his ears both trustees and people. A 
most temperate and conservative statement having been 
prepared, chiefly geographical and philosophical, designed 
to give the trustees a clear view of the colony, the opposi- 
tion at once attacked it with vehemence, analyzing with 
great freedom the character and future of the signers, and 
finally, disposing of them as a crowd of time-serving office- 
holders. The freshet of abuse rose rapidly and soon 
reached the highest mark. A young preacher, who had 
started for Georgia with the munificent endowment of 
twenty pounds, found himself in a short while at the end 
of his fortune and applied to Oglethorpe for aid. That 
great man was charged with replying that unless the eccle- 
siast "would depend solely on Him who feeds the ravens, 
etc., he (Oglethorpe) neither could or might with security 
give him credit there." Mr. Watson, happening to ask Mr. 
Oglethorpe what laws he intended for the colony, the latter, 



18 The Making of Georgia 

being for the moment indisposed to deliver a lecture on 
jurisprudence, replied: "Such q,s the trustees thought 
proper, what business had poor people to do with laws." 
Mr. Perkins concluded that because he had accumulated 
eighteen tame hogs, a general order had been issued for 
the slaying of swine. Mr. Coram was quite certain that 
unless Oglethorpe was promptly taken in hand the colony 
would speedily become a Jewish settlement; and Mr. 
Roberson was convinced that such had been the conduct of 
affairs his property had become valueless, and he sadly 
remarked that it made no difference anyhow, for even if 
the general or the trustees did not sieze it, it had already 
become worthless by the course of events; and he implored 
the King, speaking from this disinterested standpoint, to be 
graciously pleased "to save his subjects from the severities 
of the said Oglethorpe." In the pamphlet entitled "A Brief 
Account of the Causes Which Have Retarded the Progress 
of the Colony," it is observed that since his (Oglethorpe's) 
appointm_ent there is scarcely any species of oppression, 
short of life and limb, which may not be unanswerably 
proved to have been arbitrarily exerted by this gentleman 
who has publicly appeared an invader of the natural rights 
of mankind, and the particular privileges of his fellow-sub- 
jects." But the climax was reached when the subject of 
drink was touched. Each of the disaffected felt at liberty 
to fire in any direction he pleased on ordinary occasion, 
but around this topic all rallied and fired by volley. Avail- 
ing themselves of the Englishman's right of petition, they 
sent up a prayer loud and earnest. This man, they said, 
has ruined the colony. He has forbidden slavery — and 
white men may not toil here. But worse than this, he has 
prohibited rum. As your majesty knows, the trade of the 
colony consists in indigo and lumber which we sell to New 
England in exchange for rum to be sold at large profit to 
the Indians. This he has taken from us. In addition to 
this loss, as your majesty well knows, the waters of all the 



The MciMny of Geor<jia 19 



colonies are bad, but particularly do the waters of Georgia 
and Carolina need qualification. A practice which seems 
to have survived the introduction of artesian. Such is the 
vitality of colonial traditions. And so it goes, page after 
page of the Journal covered with complaints and abuse, 
until the Earl, in sheer weariness of spirit after forgiving 
the Salzburgers a small debt for reason that they were 
the only colonists who had ever repaid their loans, in- 
scribed it as his opinion that the rest were given over to 
drunkenness and laziness — a view in which, in the main, 
Whitfield coincided. How small it appears at this interval 
of time. But light began to break at last. The discon- 
tented gradually found their way to Carolina, where they 
kept up fire at long range — and the colony thus purified 
began to prepare itself for the crisis which was upon it. 

In England, Georgia's fate had long hung in the balance. 
In the Parliament and in court circles, it had well-nigh 
been determined to give over the struggle and yield to 
Spain's contention, but pride saved the day at last. So, 
on July 5, 1738, Oglethorpe having received his commis- 
sion from the King as general and commander-in-chief of 
the forces in Carolina and Georgia, set sail from Ports- 
mouth, with most of his regiment, arriving in Jekyl sound 
on September 18, a detachment of his troops having pre- 
viously sailed on May 7. With these latter came George 
Whitfield, an earnest and brilliant man, the successor of 
John Wesley, whose lasting memorial still exists in the 
Bethesda Orphans' Home. Fixing his headquarters at 
Fort St. Andrews on Cumberland, Oglethorpe at once pro- 
ceeded to establish communications between Frederica 
and the fort at the south end of St. Simons; and beset with 
many anxieties and under the necessity of increasing vig- 
ilance to detect and frustrate the designs of the Spaniards, 
he was suddenly confronted with a mutiny in his regiment, 
which came near being fatal to him. For a few months 



20 The Mal'Uuf of Oeorgia 

after their arrival, extra provisions had been issued to the 
troops. This, some of them came to regard as a part of 
their pay, and upon the discontinuance of the allowance 
a conspiracy was formed to kill the general. He was inso- 
lently approached by a soldier, who, upon being rebuked, 
ran to his quarters, and arming himself, returned with some 
four or five associates. Approaching Oglethorpe, he fired 
at point blank range, the powder scorching the general's 
face and clothes and the bullet narrowly missing his head. 
The musket of the second conspirator missed fire, where- 
upon a third drew his hanger and endeavored to stab his 
chief, who, having drawn his sword, parried the blow, and 
before it could be repeated, the soldier had been run 
through by an officer who had hastened to the spot. The 
remaining conspirators were seized, court-martialed and 
executed, and the affair was ended. The general situation 
was becoming each day more ominous. Fomented by the 
Spaniards, a slave insurrection had broken out in Carolina, 
and a large company of negroes were making their way 
toward Florida, murdering and plundering as they went. 
Fortunately, this was suppressed before the Georgia line 
was reached. But the frequency of these attempts to 
arouse the Indians and negroes against the English per- 
suaded Oglethorpe of the necessity of immediate action 
toward securing the friendship and alliance of the great 
Creek nation. Setting out in July, 1739, with a retinue of 
three or four officers, he pushed his way for three hundred 
miles through the wilderness and swamps of Georgia, 
probably to the neighborhood of where Columbus now 
stands. There he found the Creeks assembled and con- 
sidering the expediency of war upon the whites. Such was 
the impression made upon them by Oglethorpe — particu- 
larly his boldness in coming among them with so few fol- 
lowers — that they renewed their relations with the English, 



The Making of Geonjia 21 

and pledged their co-operation in the approaching hostili- 
ties with Spain. This secured neutrality, at least, of seven 
thousand warriors and was a magnificent illustration of 
the fortitude, skill and powers of endurance of the general. 
On his return he learned that war had been declared 
between England and Spain. In the midst of these mili- 
tary preparations and anxieties, death took from him one 
of his truest friends and most loyal allies. On the 16th 
of October, 1739, died in his own town, at the age of 92 
years, Tomochichi, the king of the Yamacraws. As his 
end drew near, he summoned his followers about him and 
urged upon them that they persevere in their friendship for 
the English. He expressed the greatest tenderness for 
Oglethorpe, and was troubled that death came at a time 
when he might have been of service against the Spaniards. 
As he had induced the Creeks to sign the treaty and thus 
assisted in the founding of the town, he desired that he 
might be buried in Savannah, among the English. And 
so when life departed, they bore the old warrior, as he had 
wished, to Savannah, her prominent men being his pall- 
bearers, followed by the Indians, the magistrates and the 
people. And reverently and in honor, to the martial sound 
of minute guns, they laid him to rest in the heart of the 
town. And over his grave, by order of Oglethorpe, they 
erected a pyramid of stones, in testimony of their gratitude. 
We pass the spot each day— for it is in the court house 
square— but in our harder times we have thrown down the 
simple monument they raised, and there he lies, with our 
busy life above him, forgotten. So it is with your greater 
friend, old warrior. Upon our streets rise other monu- 
ments to brave and goodly men, and even the brutal Span- 
ish chief who cut his murderous, plundering way from 
south to north through Georgia's length, has his memorial 



The Makiiuj of Gconjia 



in our midst. But you who toiled and fought and gave and 
suffered for her good — rest, you forgotten. Such is your 
fate. 

"To the rescue, spirits bold! 
To the rescue, gallant men; 
Let the marble page unfold 
All his daring deeds again." 

On the 15th of November, 1739, the Spaniards began 
hostilities by shooting two Highlanders on Amelia Island. 
Oglethorpe at once gave pursuit, and, failing to overtake 
the assailants, pushed on to the St. John's, landed on the 
main and burnt three outposts. Marching in the direction 
of St. Augustine, and attacking and defeating a detachment 
of Spanish horse, negroes and Indians, he attempted to 
take Forts St. Francis and Picolata, but failed for want of 
artillery. Returning on January 1, 1740, he surprised and 
burnt Fort Picolata and captured Fort St. Francis. This 
placed him within twenty miles of St. Augustine. In all of 
these expeditions he was accompanied by the Indians from 
the Yamacraws. By this time the home government began 
to interest itself in Georgia affairs and Admiral Vernon 
was dispatched to make a demonstration against the Span- 
ish West Indies, whilst Oglethorpe was to invade Florida. 
It was agreed that a regiment of 500 Carolinians should 
meet the Georgia force at the mouth of the St. John's, and 
runners were sent to the Indian allies. The naval force, 
after the West Indian service, was to rendezvous off the 
St. John's bar and blockade the north channel and the 
Mantanzas pass, whilst a detachment of sailors erected 
batteries on Anastasia Island. St. Augustine, thus men- 
aced from the sea, was to be invested on the land side by 
the army under Oglethorpe. About the middle of May, 1740, 
the army, 2,000 strong, consisting of regulars, militia and 
Indians, moved on St. Augustine. Capturing Fort Moosa, 
which was two miles from the town, preparations were 



The Makuiff of Georgia 23 

made for the attack. The signal for the assault was given 
the fleet, which did not respond. Given a second time 
without result, the unsupported attack from the land be- 
came impracticable. This lack of co-operation compelled 
Oglethorpe to convert the plan of assault into a seige, 
which continued for three weeks without result. The fleet 
finally weighed anchor and sailed away, and the garrison, 
having been provisioned and reinforced, Oglethorpe raised 
the seige and, ill of fever, began his homeward march. At 
this juncture the Carolinaians, forgetful of the traditions 
of their brave state, behaved badly. They had not lost a 
man during the expedition, but as the troops began to 
withdraw such was their perturbation of spirit that they 
broke into a disorderly retreat, leaving the remainder of 
the force, thus depleted, exposed to an attack which was 
promptly delivered, and as promptly repulsed. As they 
hurried along they invited an Indian chief to go with them. 
He replied: "No, I will not stir a foot until I see every 
man belonging to me marched off before me." The army 
reached Frederica in safety on July 10. With the experi- 
ence which came to many of us in the tremendous con- 
flicts of the late war in America, the military operations 
in which the colony of Georgia engaged, however momen- 
tous and serious to those of that day, are apt to seem tri- 
fling affairs to our broader observation. But however con- 
tracted the scope of his opportunity, one cannot but be 
impressed with the military genius of Oglethorpe. He had 
been reared in a stern and capable school and knew war 
as it was understood by the ablest generals in Europe. His 
strategy was perfect, and his soldiers recognized in him 
that high quality of a commander which carries him 
wherever he is willing to order his men to go. Indeed, 
it was only on rare occasions when his presence was else- 
where demanded that he did not actually move, on land 
and on sea, at the head of his command. Intrepid to the 
last degree, the instant an expedition or seige became futile 



24 The Making of Oenrfna 

lie turned toward his base. His energy was enormous. 
Delivering a blow today, all the chances were that, irrespec- 
tive of success, he would be back on the morrow. The 
Spaniard became worn through loss of rest, and his fleets 
hastened to put the ocean between them and Oglethorpe's 
scout boat with its swivel gun. He invaded Florida before 
and after the battle of Frederica, and he contemptously 
patrolled the St. John's a dozen times. His movements 
sometimes bordered on recklessness, but he was never in- 
different to the safety of his command, and fighter as he 
was, never risked the lives of those under him when the 
object in view could be attained by stratagem. The stage 
was small, but it was the same great actor who had won 
the applause of Marlborough and Prince Eugene. 

While he was representing to the home government the 
urgency of naval support, the storm was gathering fast. 
No vessels arriving, and the lieutenant governor of Caro- 
lina having declined assistance, Oglethorpe made his prep- 
arations to meet its fury alone. It burst upon him in the 
summer of 1742. A Spanish fleet of fifty-one sails ap- 
peared in June. In one way and another the vessels of 
this fleet were separated, and so badly used in detail that 
it finally disappeared, to be replaced on June 28 by another 
fleet of thirty-six sails, which together made the Cuba and 
St. Augustine squadrons. This Oglethorpe succeeded in 
retarding until July 5, when, after a hot engagement, last- 
ing four hours, it passed the batteries and got out of range 
toward Frederica. Whereupon Oglethorpe, getting off some 
of his craft to Charleston in the face of the fleet and de- 
stroying the rest, fell back upon Frederica, the enemy 
landing at the south end. On July 7 the Spaniards moved 
on Frederica, and Oglethorpe advanced to meet them. As 
they came in view he charged at the head of his Indians, 
Highlanders and Rangers, and utterly routed them, driving 
them back to an open meadow, at the edge of which he 



The Making of Georgia 25 

posted three platoons of the regiment and the company of 
Highlanders. Against these the Spaniards again advanced 
with negroes and Indians. In the encounter some of the 
platoons retired in disorder, but the firing continuing, Ogle- 
thorpe concluded that his force had not been dispersed. 
Advancing to its support, he arrived in time to see the 
enemy routed. The Spaniards retired into the ruins of the 
old fort, where they entrenched under the shelter of the 
guns of the fleet. For want of artillery, Oglethorpe fell 
back on Frederica. A Frenchman of Oglethorpe's com- 
mand having deserted to the enemy, the general conceived 
a bold scheme to turn the desertion to account. Surmising 
that the deserter would give information of the weakness 
of his forces, he composed a letter in French and induced 
a prisoner to carry it into the Spanish lines. When found 
upon him he was to acknowledge that it was intended for 
the deserter. In it the latter was urged to persist in rep- 
resenting the inferiority of the Georgia army, and it was 
confided to him that if he would so thoroughly impress the 
Spanish commander with this fact as to induce him to 
engage in battle that not only would the English arms pre- 
vail, but the deserter would be given a large sum of money 
in addition to what he had already received. The scheme 
worked like a charm. The emissary was arrested and 
searched, and reluctantly admitted that the letter was for 
the Frenchman. In vain did the latter protest his inno- 
cence. He was court-martialed and found to be a double 
spy. Confining all the French, the Spaniards hastily em- 
barked and evacuated St. Simons with such precipitancy 
that they left their cannon and their dead. Bringing up 
under Jekyl, the Cuba squadron finally stood out to sea 
and that of St. Augustine returned to Cumberland sound, 
from which, upon Oglethorpe's pursuit, they put to sea. 
And this was the last time that any force not speaking 
the English tongue ever set foot on Georgia soil with hos- 
tile intent. In the terse and reverent language of the gen- 



26 llie Makinf/ of Georgia 

eral: "The Spanish invasion, which had a long time threat- 
ened the colony, Carolina and all North America, has at 
last fallen upon us, and God hath been our deliverance." 
And the good Whitfield added: "The deliverance of Geor- 
gia from the Spaniards is such as cannot be paralleled but 
by some instances out of the Old Testament." In March, 
1743, Oglethorpe conducted another expedition against St. 
Augustine. Driving the enemy into his fortifications, and 
the English being too weak to attack, the expedition re- 
turned to Frederica. This was practically the last of the 
war. The fortifications on St. Simons were kept up until 
the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, when the troops 
having been withdrawn, they fell into decay. 

And now, his work accomplished, the great soldier be- 
gan to think of the rest he had earned and of the home 
across the seas from which he had been so long an exile 
for the good of mankind and the glory of England. On 
July 23, 1743, after ten years of arduous toil and constant, 
pressing responsibilities, he set sail for England, leaving 
behind him, where he had found at his coming a wilder- 
ness, the sure foundations of a free and enlightened com- 
monwealth, and bearing with him the affection of the dis- 
cerning and the applauding recognition of the English 
speaking world. In a long and honored life he never forgot 
the people for whom he had labored. When in the great 
crisis of their existence he was offered the command of 
the British army, he declined it, and insisted that justice 
and not arms would retain the American colonies. Sur- 
rounded by the cultured and the great — the friend of 
Johnson and Burke, and Reynolds and Goldsmith; sung 
of the poets and applauded by mankind, he passed to his 
rest on the 1st of July, 1785, at the great age of 96 years. 
No marble shaft uprears its graceful lines to remind us of 
his deeds and virtues. But so it is, that whenever Geor- 
gia's name is called that of Oglethorpe springs instant to 



The Making of Georgia 27 

the memory. He who has Georgia as a monument may 
well forego the cold and speechless marble. 

And so Georgia was made. To English, and Scot, and 
German, in time were added the Virginian and the New 
Englander, and from them all have sprung a race as brave 
and self-reliant as ever stood in the line of battle or con- 
quered in the fierce struggles of peace. 

And what of the State which has been made! From 
weakness unto strength; from storm to peace, her steps 
have led. Where, in the olden days, the minstrels of her 
tangled wilds poured out their hymns at nature's shrines 
the harsh discordant cries of trade from iron throats now 
sound across the ripening corn and echo through the 
snowy acres of her fruitful fields. No more the restless 
waves beat lonely on her shining sands, but as they break 
and clamoring pass away, the answering ripples of her sea- 
ward craft call to her ancient shores their prophecies of 
hope and gain. Her rushing streams are voiceless in the 
constant roar of wheel and rod, and all her blue and 
rounded hills bleed from the wounds of furrowing plow 
and delving spade. And as she moves resistless through 
the contending ranks, with wreaths of commerce round 
her imperial brows, in her triumphant train come memories 
which know not trade nor steam nor greed: Memories 
of names which reaching up aspiring hands toward the 
very heights of fame, yet kept their loving touch upon her 
heart: Memories of simple folk who died on honored fields 
with Georgia's name upon their lips and Georgia's glory 
in their hearts: Memories of empty sleeves and broken 
hearts; and memories which like heralds speak unto a 
listening world that never yet within her bounds hath free- 
dom called in vain, or sought the courage which she did 
not find. Pass on, old State, with all thy glorious mem- 
ories, to better things — if any be! About thy honored form 



The Making of Georyia 



clin£? all our hopes and aims, and round thy sacred head 
— a saintly halo shining through the years — glows soft and 
bright thy children's love! Pass on in splendor to the un- 
tried times, a conquering spirit in our earthly days, thy 
greatness moving through the lesser shades like sunlight 
through the summer clouds! 

Make way for our sovereign State! 

As she passes along the years. 

Her eyes are soft with remembered tears, 

And her heart with the thoughts of her great; 

Of her sons who fell where the battle raved 

Like the demon of storms elate, 

Of the daughters whose cheering courage waved 

Their faith in the face of Fate. 

Let her pines bend low as she passes along, 

And the sprites that crooning sway 

In their tops, and whisper of wave and spray, 

Pour into her ears their song; 

And her gold-eyed thrush with the witching lay, 

And her streams and her blue hills strong, 

And her winter skies and her fragrant May — 

Let them join in the praising throng. 

Let her dead and her living attend her feet — 

Her son from over the wave — 

The dusky shade of her Indian brave — 

And her toilers from field and street; 

And her statesmen wise and her bards who sing, 

And her soldier lads who died. 

And sinner and saint — 'till the whole world ring 

With her children's loving pride! 



The MaMiKj of Georyia 29 



Make way for the State we love! 

Wherever her footsteps go 

We'll follow them though the tempests blow, 

Or her skies show fair above; 

And whether we come from rounded hill, 

Or dwell where her waters move. 

We'll circle our hearts about her still — 

Make way for the State we love! 




OGLETPIORPE 



A county, a ward, a street here and there and a dilapi- 
dated and abandoned fort on the banks of the Savannah, 
which in the fullness of its strength could not have with- 
stood the least dangerous of modern ordnance for ten min- 
utes — these are the memorials in Georgia to the English- 
man who made the state possible. 

The county and ward seem to have been conferred with 
something of generous appreciation; one of the streets 
at least, was yielded reluctantly after a struggle of years, 
and the fortification having served for upward of half a 
century as an imperishable monument to the glory of 
Andrew Jackson was abruptly withdrawn from that hon- 
orable employment and appropriated to the fame of James 
Edward Oglethorpe, which has and does deserve a better 
fate at the hands of a people who, in their strong history, 
still feel the impulses which he imparted in the days of 
their weakness and their youth. 

With the rapid and weedy growth of heroes, which has 
come upon us, such expedients are doubtless necessary. 
Fifty years is a long time for any one man to continue to 
be a hero in America, and the shades of the fighter who 
held his raw troops steady behind the cotton bales at New 
Orleans and sent the best infantry of Europe in panic from 
the field of battle, should remember, if it is given to shades 
to reflect, that since his day we have had more heroes 
than counties and forts and monuments— Cuban heroes — 
South Sea heroes — China heroes, and even as we meditate 

(31) 



32 Oglethorpe 



upon the possibilities, a threatened eruption of Bulgarian 
and Macedonian heroes, to say nothing of heroines. 

But for the occasional mistake in putting the label on 
the wrong man, the memory would sink under the burden 
of remembering those who have filed their claims to im- 
mortality — and pensions. 

Peace was never so blessed as in our day. For whilst 
it is sad to reflect that peace also has its heroes, they are 
not so lurid and clamorous and claiming as the bestriped 
and bespangled specimens who climb over the Alps with 
Tartarin and live to tell us how it was done. 

The times called for men, and there was born in Surrey, 
England, on December 21, 1688, James Edward Oglethorpe. 

Gentle by birth and college bred, at the age of 22 he 
entered the military service as ensign, and with some inter- 
val devoted to diplomacy, found himself in 1714 a captain- 
lieutenant attracting the attention of the great Marlbor- 
ough, and by him passed on to the Prince Eugene to become 
a marked participant in the Danubian campaigns, which, 
in 1717, resulted in the rout of the Turk. 

Leaving the army when peace was concluded, he was 
returned to parliament, where he sat as a burgess for 
Haslemere for thirty-two years, having succeeded to the 
inheritance of Godalming in 1722. 

A chance visit to a distressed acquaintance detained in 
the Fleet prison, aroused his sympathy with the sufferings 
of the imprisoned debtors, and his indignation at the treat- 
ment to which they were subjected. This led to a parlia- 
mentary inquiry in 1728, resulting in the amelioration of 
the sad conditions which surrounded these unfortunate 
people. 



Oglethorpe 33 



The one wrong suggested others, and in 1731 we find 
him concerning himself with the oppression of the Prot- 
estants of Germany. 

It is to be learned from his speeches in 1732 that he 
was a friend of the colonies, and that about this time he 
had become interested in the possibilities of silk culture. 
Thus became grouped at the historical moment a great 
man, great wrongs and a great industry. The righting of 
the wrong under new conditions followed naturally, and 
Georgia was the logical conclusion. 

Men had struggled to better their kind and failed, and 
were destined to other struggles and other failures. 

The glory of this man is not so much that he succeeded, 
but that the elements of greatness in him assured success 
and enabled him to discern in what would have been to 
others the indicia of failure simply the danger signals along 
a practicable route, as the skilled mariner reads deep 
water in rocks and favorable winds in storms. It would 
be idle, speaking to an audience instructed as is this in the 
facts which make the history of Georgia, to trace in detail 
the work that fell to the brain and hands of Oglethorpe. 
It was putting the race horse to the plough and the field- 
marshal in the sutler's tent, but the work was done and 
done so thoroughly that it is not impossible in some parts 
of the state to point to the tangible facts which come from 
his wisdom and care. The broad statesmanship which in 
a day made of the Indians devoted allies, could not have 
overlooked the weaknesses and shortcomings of the pas- 
sengers who sailed with him in the good craft Anne, de- 
scribed by Dr. Tailfer as "the first forty." He could but 
know that the simple processes of fresh air and ample food 
would not transform at once the freed debtors into the 
stubborn material wherewith great states are constructed. 



34 Oglethorpe 



Had this been all in the scheme he had in view, it would 
have been better for humanity doubtless to let the experi- 
ment end before it had well begun. 

It is scarcely probable that the depressive and unwhole- 
some influences of prison life ever wholly departed from 
this advance guard which never altogether got rid of the 
idea that they were escaping and might be recaptured and 
that it was, therefore, expedient to enjoy life on the theory 
that each day was the last. When they had debarked at 
Yamacraw Bluff with the five tuns of wine from the Island 
of Madeira and found that this was a land teeming with 
the toothsome and unsuspecting terrapin, little dreaming of 
the combination fate had in store for him — the end was 
well in sight. • 

They neither worked nor fought in a working and a 
fighting community; but they talked and wrote until they 
had covered everybody with abuse from Oglethorpe and 
the trustees down to the lighthouse keeper on distant 
Tybee. Considering the many things they said about 
Savannah, it gives me pleasure to remind you that they 
scoffed at the pretensions of Augusta to be known as a 
great trade center and openly declared that you caused 
the garrison here, consisting of twelve men, to move around 
in a circle from the rising to the setting of the sun, count- 
ing each man every time he passed a given point and with 
a truculent disregard of the moral responsibilities inherent 
in the taking of a census, announced the result as popu- 
lation. 

In time, a short time, they degenerated from Madeira 
to New England rum and having, like Frankenstein, con- 
structed a monster who called himself Causton, between 
them they contrived to make the stocks and calaboose of 
Georgia the best known institutions in America. They 



Oglethorpe ^5 



finally crossed the river and whilst the colony continued 
to hear the distant rumblings of their wrath it was only 
far off thunder and did no damage. It was of the wisdom 
of Oglethorpe that the philanthropic feature of the colony 
was neither its main nor its strongest support. 

Whilst the preamble to the charter recites that "many 
of his majesty's poor subjects were, through misfortunes 
and want of employment, reduced to great necessities and 
would be glad to be settled in any of his provinces of 
America," it sounded the very highest and bravest notes 
when it also declared that the colony was designed to be 
the military frontier of Carolina and a home for the op- 
pressed and persecuted Protestants of Europe. 

The Anne was yet on her way when began that exodus 
of stout hearts and strong arms from the beautiful hills 
of Salzburg, toiling its slow length along the ancient high- 
ways of Europe; whilst from England and Scotland began 
to rally to the post of danger the free subjects who had 
never known the prison bars of London. Here was the 
material out of which states are builded and history made, 
and this was the end Oglethorpe foresaw. These built the 
towns and manned the earthworks of Georgia, as ready 
with the axe as with the rifle. And as commerce sought 
her streams and from her fruitful soil sprung in their 
seasons the varying fruits, there grew under her genial 
skies a self-reliant, brave and tolerant spirit — loving lib- 
erty, reverencing the law, and capable when the day did 
come to work out the highest ideals of free and enlight- 
ened government. 

It is safe to say that had Oglethorpe been other than 
he was the colony would have been known in history as 
another failure in the long list of Utopias. With infinite 
patience he worked out the details of government, sword 



36 Oglethorpe 



in hand. Keeping the Indian in checl^ by diplomacy, he 
made the Spaniard marlv time before the points of his 
bayonets. 

There was no burning of witches nor scalpings by sav- 
ages and whilst the musketry was rattling where the ma- 
jestic Alatamaha pours its affluent waters into the deeps 
of the Atlantic, on the Savannah the fields were growing 
greener and the sounds of industry swelling stronger and 
louder. 

In ten years his work was accomplished, and when his 
departing glance caught the last gleam of the beacon on 
Tybee he could reflect that where he had found a wilder- 
ness he had left a State; that where he had encountered 
the distrusting Indian he had left friendship and peace, 
and a lasting refuge for the oppressed of earth fixed for 
all time, and that the military colony of America had not 
only kept the firing line with gallantry, but that the Span- 
iard had fled from the soil of Georgia forever in disastrous 
retreat. 

He could count it compensation for these precious years 
of his manhood that he had been patient and just and brave 
and honest and tolerant. One of the brightest intellects of 
his day, he had given his thought to the aid and happiness 
of others. One of the bravest soldiers of his time, he had 
devoted the skill which had commanded the admiration 
of Marlborough and Eugene to the obscure emergencies 
of Bloody Marsh. 

Years after the Revolution some of his heirs wrote to 
Washington inquiring if Oglethorpe's estates in Georgia 
had been confiscated. 

The President replied that he could say, without seeking 
the facts, that whatever belonged to that great man so far 



Oglethorpe 37 



from having been destroyed would have been conserved 
with loving care. Upon investigation it was ascertained 
that there never had been such an estate — his priceless 
work had no price and all that he asked of Georgia was 
the opportunity to do good. 

Nothing can be pleasanter than the contemplation of 
his remaining years. His great services had attracted 
the attention of the civilized world, and he moved through 
life observed and honored. From his delightful country 
home it was his habit to visit frequently the metropolis 
and commune with the kindred spirits which then made 
glorious the ancient seat of the race. 

The picture most familiar to us represents him a tall, 
sturdy figure, reading without spectacles a book from the 
library of Dr. Johnson. 

He was then upward of ninety, vigorous and active. 

His comrades and friends were falling fast about him. 
Boswell pauses to tell us that he "was as remarkable for 
his learning and taste, as for his other eminent qualities, 
and no man was more prompt, active, and generous in 
encouraging merit." He had called on Boswell on the 
occasion of the publication of the ''Account of Corsica," 
and that delighted soul recalled with enthusiasm the verses 
with which Pope had years before immortalized his visitor. 
Dr. Johnson had a high regard for him and was so affected 
by his praise of "London," then just published, that he 
seriously considered writing his life. 

It is pleasant to recall that Goldsmith was one of his 
friends and that he talked politics with the great Burke. 
Pope and Thomson sang of him, and no man was better 
known or enjoyed more thoroughly the respect and admira- 
tion of his fellows. Nor were his conquests confined to his 



38 Oglethoi'pe 



own sex. He was a favorite visitor at the home of Mrs. 
Montagu, she of the "Blue Stocking Club," where he met 
Miss Hannah More, who in 1784 wrote: "I have got a new 
admirer; it is the famous General Oglethorpe, perhaps 
the most remarkable man of his time. He was foster- 
l)rother to the pretender, and is much above 90 years old; 
the finest figure you ever saw. He perfectly realizes all 
my ideas of Nestor. His literature is great; his knowledge 
of the world extensive; and his faculties as bright as ever. 
He is quite a preux clicralicr — heroic, romantic and full of 
the old gallantry." 

What a vivid picture of a gentleman! Let me add that 
he was also the friend and comrade of one of the greatest 
Georgians who ever lived, Tomochichi, the Mico of the 
Yamacraws, whose memory has been preserved to the State 
and her people by the noble work of the Colonial Dames 
of Georgia, who, carrying into effect the wishes of Ogle- 
thorpe, have caused to be placed over the spot in the heart 
of Savannah where he lies, a granite rock from the hills 
of Georgia on which we read that he was 

THE COMPANION OF OGLETHORPE, 
AND THE FRIEND AND ALLY OF THE COLONY OF GEORGIA. 

Oglethorpe had declined the command of the British 
forces in the Revolution. He could not consent to draw 
his sword against the people to whom he had given the 
best years of his life. He urged upon the ministry that the 
colonies would never be won back by force; that what 
they were battling for was justice, and that justice alone 
would reclaim their allegiance to the crown. When that 
momentous struggle was at an end and the United States 
had accredited John Adams as their minister to England, 
Oglethorpe, who had done more than any other to implant 
in America the seeds which were to expand into the growth 



Oglethorpe 39 



and blossoms of liberty, was among the first to greet him 
with generous words for the people he represented. With 
faculties unimpaired, and full of years and honors, his work 
accomplished, and mankind the better for his life, he died 
at Cranham on the thirtieth day of June, 1785, in his 
ninety-seventh year. Surely, our duty looks us in the face 
and challenges our delays. 

If on a summer day when the breeze flows free from 
the southeast and there are just clouds enough to throw 
occasional shadows across the long stretches of the bend- 
ing marsh grass, of which Lanier loved to sing, you take 
your way through the inland route of the Georgia coast, 
there are things to see which will live in your memories 
for years. 

You will follow the classic way of Oglethorpe and his 
soldiers as they toiled with oar and sail in their rude 
periaugers bound for the historic site of Frederica. Your 
journey lies through winding creeks and rivers and broad 
expanse of sounds — here, the limitless marsh; there, the 
hammocks with their sweeping oaks and singing pines. 

The "silver-footed wind" touches lightly the responsive 
tide, leaving the gleaming impress of its step, and song 
of birds and whispering of trees are ever in your ears and 
souls. On your left, the islands of the sea — Ossabaw, Was- 
saw, Saint Catherine, Sapelo; on your right, Bonaventure, 
the Ogeechee, McAllister of glorious memory, the Medway 
flowing from the parish of Saint John, Sunbury, Darien, 
the Alatamaha, scores of ancient homes of Georgia folk, 
full of memories of a life that has gone forever, like the 
bloom from the cheek of youth. 

At last. Saint Simon's with its spreading oaks and lofty 
pines and tangled undergrowth and vine: Far to the east, 
the sand dunes and then the restless sea thundering its 



40 OgleiJiorpe 



eternal summons to the land. Between woods and ocean, 
a wide sweep of marsh and just where the trees end a 
causeway — and he is a weak-hearted and a poverty-stricken 
soul who can look down its narrow stretch and not thrill 
with enthusiasm knowing that this is Bloody Marsh, and 
here, at his feet, was fought to a finish the old quarrel be- 
tween England and Spain, and that through the instrumen- 
tality of Oglethorpe's brain on that day the Almighty had 
willed that the civlization of Georgia should alway remain 
Anglo-Saxon. 

Landward, a shaded graveyard filled with the names of 
English soldiers; a breastwork on which grow ancient 
oaks; a tabby fort with time and tide and wind eating 
its strength away inch by inch, its broken bastions eloquent 
of military skill and fighting with silent courage the re- 
lentless waters creeping closer and closer and tearing at 
its base, as if it knew that it was the only monument in 
Georgia to the great soldier who saved her when her des- 
tiny hung upon the steadiness of his nerve and the sound- 
ness of his heart, and brought her out of the struggle with 
that pride and character which carried her in desperate 
conflict through the darkest days of the Revolution and in 
after times for four long years of war made her name a 
word to cheer the bravest souls to highest deeds. 

"To the rescue, spirits bold! 
"To the rescue, gallant men! 
"Let the marble page unfold 
"All his daring deeds again!" 



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